


Right by Wrong

by LaoisePotter



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Fix-it fic, Post 2x24
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 11:04:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15047459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaoisePotter/pseuds/LaoisePotter
Summary: Nott has a lot to learn when it comes to other people.





	Right by Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> No triple-checking, we rush to fix a toxic situation like men.

Beau slammed her against the outside wall, pinning her at her own height, and Nott was stunned.

 

Something angry in Beau’s eyes told Nott she was lucky to not be dangling two feet off the ground by the scruff of her neck. Beau’s mouth worked furiously like she was trying to keep from spitting venom and the small goblin found herself tensing for something she logically knew wasn’t coming.

 

“You...” Gritting her teeth, Beau growled and met Nott’s gaze. “Don’t you _ever_ do that to me again.”

 

“I—“

 

“Shut up, Nott. Who the fuck do you think you are, huh? Who do you think _I_ am? Some prick whose trauma has made her a terrible person? Huh? Think I don’t know what it’s like to be ripped away from the only home I’ve every known?”

 

Oh. Oh, she did not handle this well. Nott’s initial alarm was quickly draining into a desire to be swallowed up by the earth. Her fingers scrabbled around for something to touch, something to hold onto just to ease her anxiety. “No, I didn’t, I just—“

 

A hand slapped over her mouth as her own hand nervously seized one of her bracelets. “How dare you use my past and my pain against me,” Beau hissed. “How _dare_ you make me feel like shit over something I haven’t even done. Something I wouldn’t ever do.” She dug her face into her shoulder, leaving a small glistening trail on her skin behind. Nott realized the flash in her eyes hadn’t been fury after all.

 

“Beauregard—“

 

“I said shut _up_ , Nott!”

 

The goblin gripped her bangle tightly and clamped her mouth shut. Feeling the motion, Beau let her hand drop to her side and she shook her head slowly. “Even if it was the right decision in the end, that was fucked up, man. Don’t _ever_ make me feel like garbage for wanting weigh all my options. Don’t _ever_ punish me for wanting to exercise my independence. Don’t you think I do that enough to myself?!”

 

The weight of Beau’s words rested so heavily on her chest that Nott barely registered the change in pressure when Beau pulled away. The monk took three deep, slow breaths, hands pressed to her face, and said quietly, “You can’t do that. You can’t do that to anyone else. I don’t give a fuck about myself, just please, don’t fucking do it to anyone else.”

 

Nott was stupefied, caught somewhere between wanting to reach out to Beau and wanting to bolt. After a very pregnant pause, Beau rubbed her eyes rapidly and stood up. Nott tried to say something, anything to make this better, but what came out was little more than a distressed hiccup that Beau completely ignored. “Stay away from me. For the rest of the night.” Beau didn’t look back as she walked away, stepping silently into the broken-down butcher shop.

 

Nott felt a little sick and a lot confused. It didn’t help that when she glanced down to see what bangle she had grabbed onto, it was Beau’s jade one.

* * *

 

Yasha sat at the table by herself, smiling as Jester whirled their friends around in some sort of improvised reel in the center of the tavern. The little tiefling had convinced Fjord and Caleb to join in impressively fast, and the two of them weren’t half bad when they weren’t trying desperately to avoid contact with anyone else. Laughter rose as Jester dipped Caleb so low that her flower crown fell right on his face, and Yasha felt a tug at her shirt. She looked down, surprised to see a very nervous-looking Nott seated next to her.

 

“Oh, I thought you were dancing.”

 

“I was, I was, but...” Nott sighed and started to fidget with her rings. “I think I hurt Beauregard today.”

 

Yasha’s brow furrowed. “You think you hurt Beauregard today?”

 

Nott’s ears drooped. “No. I know. I hurt Beauregard today.”

 

A string of insults called Yasha’s attention back to the rest of the Nein, where Beau and Molly were both trying to lead a two-step neither of them knew the steps for. Their monk seemed fine now, but Yasha remembered how quiet she had been earlier after she’d taken Nott outside. “Well...” She turned her gaze down again. “Did you work it out?”

 

Nott shook her head. “I don’t think so. She yelled at me, and then she didn’t yell at me, and then she asked me to not do what I did to anyone else...” She trailed off, tugging idly at a bracelet. Yasha let the silence linger for a moment.

 

“Do you know what you did?”

 

“I think so, yes.” There was another pause. Nott tilted her head worriedly. “How do you know for sure if you’re...if you’re being a mean person, even if it’s not on purpose?”

 

“Oh.” Yasha worried her bottom lip with her teeth, watching but not really paying attention to Beau and Jester’s slightly raunchy attempt at a tango. “I think... Think about the person you care most about. Someone you’ll always treat like your best friend.”

 

Nott nodded. “Caleb.”

 

“Right. Now, think about what you said or did to Beau that made her so upset. If it was Caleb, would you have done or said the same thing?”

 

Barely a second passed before Nott’s eyes went wide. “Oh. Oh, no. Oh, _no_. Oh, that was bad! I can’t believe I did that. I need to go.” She hopped down from her chair and took one step before pivoting back around. “Is that the best way to make sure you’re being nice to people?”

 

“Pretty much.”

 

“Okay, thanks.”

 

About five seconds passed before Beau was suddenly walloped in the side by Nott squeezing her around the waist as hard as she could. “Hey-!”

 

“Beauregard I am so so sorry about what I said earlier! I should have thought of it like you were Caleb but I didn’t and I said it and now I know how bad it was. I promise I won’t do it again, to you or anyone else. And if I do I’ll make sure to apologize and take it back right away because I can’t promise I’ll be perfect at it yet but I’m going to try because I want to be nice. Always. You told me something personal and I never should have used it against you. I’m so sorry.”

 

Everyone else had gone still. Beau’s arms were frozen in the air, one hand still holding on to Jester’s and the other one hovering awkwardly by Nott’s head. “Um...”

 

At that, Nott jumped back almost instantly. “I know, I know, rest of the night! I just had to apologize. I’m sorry.” She spun on her heel and was about to dart away when a hand closed around her elbow.

 

“Wait.”

 

Beau didn’t sound angry, but Nott still tensed as she met her sharp blue eyes. The monk’s nose scrunched and she dropped her gaze to the floor.

 

“I, um...” Beau cleared her throat. “Thanks. Apology accepted.”

 

Oh. That was...better than she hoped. Nott’s ears perked up as Beau gave her a nod and released her to take Jester’s hand again. They spun away and Nott scurried back to Yasha’s side, sitting a little straighter than before. “Well, that didn’t go as bad as it could have.”

 

“No.” Yasha plunked a pint of ale down in front of her. “In fact, I’d say it went rather well.”

 

Nott grinned and clunked her mug against Yasha’s in a toast. She tucked eagerly into her drink, quite satisfied with the lesson she had learned today, and didn’t notice Yasha meeting Beau’s eyes across the tavern or the silently mouthed “thank you” that tinged Yasha’s cheeks a pale pink. 

**Author's Note:**

> This certainly is not my best work, but I just had to crank this out and make sure Nott recognized and fixed what she did in at least one realm of the universe. Find me on Tumblr at laoisepotter, always feeling gay in this Chili’s tonight


End file.
